
Research Projects
Active and completed research projects in the ZeMKI Lab „Datafication and Mediatization“

- Active
OpenQDA: open qualitative data analysis software
Based on our own needs regarding collaborative work, methodological expansion, fair data usage, and support for open research processes, ZeMKI has been developing OpenQDA since January 2023. You can use the software at https://openqda.org/ and find the source code and developer documentation at https://github.com/openqda. The current special features of OpenQDA are: As a web-based application (…)
- Duration: 2023 – 2025
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Dr. Karsten D. Wolf

- Active
Prototypes of social cohesion
Participating institutions: ZeMKI, University of Bremen, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI), Hamburg Funding: Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC) Facebook, X and TikTok promote radicalization and hate speech. Digital platforms and social media are therefore typically seen as problems when it comes to social cohesion. In contrast, this work package focuses (…)
- Duration: 2025 – 2026
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp

ComAI Research Space (ComAI coordination project)
- Duration: 2025 – 2028
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen, Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann, Dr. Gregor Wiedemann

- Active
Pioneer Communities: Imagining ComAI and its possible futures (ComAI P1)
- Duration: 2025 – 2028
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp

- Active
molo.news: Research Network Tests Bremen News App
- Duration: 2023 – 2026
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen , Prof. Dr. Christian Pentzold

- Active
"You Are Your History": Family Memory and Identity on Genealogy Platforms
- Duration: 2023 – 2026
- Project lead: Dr. Rieke Böhling

- Completed
Pioneer Journalism: The Re-Figuration of the Organization(s) of Journalism
Project management: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp (ZeMKI, University of Bremen), Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen (Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI), Hamburg) Participating institutions: ZeMKI, University of Bremen, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI), Hamburg Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG) The fundamental aim of this research project is (…)
- Duration: 2019 – 2025
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp

- Completed
Pioneering Communities - The quantified Self and Maker Movement as collective Actors of profound Mediatization
Project management: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp (ZeMKI, University of Bremen) External collaborations: Prof. Dr. Nick Couldry (LSE), Prof. Dr. Sonia Livingstone (LSE), Dr. Mark Taylor (University of Sheffield), Prof. Dr. Gina Neff (University of Oxford), Prof. Dr. Michaela Pfadenhauer (University of Vienna), Prof. Dr. Fred Turner (Stanford University) Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG) Over the (…)
- Duration: 2018 – 2023
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp